I am starting Guitar Lessons Again!!

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:12 am

I have some exciting news!

A hero of mine is Carlos Bonell. He has a killer tone and his technique is top notch. I have organised my first lesson with him and hope to study for about a year with him.

I am really excited about having new things that I wouldn't have chosen myself to learn and also have that kind of pressure to deliver!

I just contacted him! Ah man

I am hoping to that I can pass on new things to my own pupils!!

a very happy
Matt

siro_angel · Post by **siro_angel** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:47 am

Good for you Matt

Hope the lessons are fun for you

Simon

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:10 pm

I had my lesson today.

I arrived there early by an hour just so I could have a diet coke and read my book.

He met me in the waiting area and I felt straight away "I am going to get on with this man!". As a Classical Guitarist, he means as much to me as Randy, so actually being with him made me very happy and very nervous.

Anyway, The best thing about this is I haven't had lessons since 2006, and while I have stayed active composing, teaching and practising it is great to have someone help you and identify weakness'.

My old teacher had a belief that he used to teach/preach...he said that the difference between and very good guitarist, and an excellent guitarist, was the excellent one was more fussy.

I think he meant zero tolerance! No sweeping things you cannot do under the carpet, but really facing your demons and being honest...and I mean really honest..."I cannot do this and I am going to practice and work on it until I can!!!" LOL but the hope is that you can, I can and everyone can with enough belief and practice.

My last teacher was a Doctor and composer and VERY academic.
His approach to the Guitar was musical, but very analytical to the point that I felt sometimes the fairy tale was ignored (laughs)

This guy with a lovely broken Spanish accent that sometimes merged into well spoken English seemed to idenntify with both.

He showed me how to really build on phrases and also by some really seemingly simple changes to passages make them much easier to play and also make them sound way better!!

It was great being in front of some like this. I loved the feeling that i know nothing!!

I am working towards a new exam now and feel I am on a journey.

Matt

siro_angel · Post by **siro_angel** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:18 pm

Thats great Matt

I always find that a guitar is NEVER fully understood, there are still things players miss.. no matter how fantastic that player is, or thinks he is, its the same with every instrument.

It's what makes it part of the musical journey!

I mean look at tubular bells, it's famous repeated line, is Bach's Toccata, upside down!

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45DVQL-wkbM

Simon

rice_pudding · Post by **rice_pudding** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:05 pm

Hey Matt,

Glad to see you've caught a second wind of such with guitar. I feel like i need a kick up the ass with my playing too

i've been re-inspired recently by tackling new playing styles. Many of them from recent guitar techniques

hybrid picking, modern acoustic? ring a bell?

its help me come up with a more individual voice to my playing.

the recent rock licks article also helped me use under-used pentatonic shapes better - something i'd been avoiding for a while!

i hope the lessons go well and you come a way with a real feeling of acomplishment

Rob

NicDots · Post by **NicDots** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:17 pm

That's great news, Dweebshire!

I hope to take up some guitar lessons too (aside from the flamenco/classical ones I'm in currently).

I have decided that I must be able to jam like Albert Lee.

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:24 am

Simon cheers for the support

Rob, my fellow guitar techniques admirer. That magazine is so comprehensive. I am always loads of issues behind. Teaching wise thouigh it is useful, not just for the tracks, but the way it has things you can dip in and out of. I know you are just really into it all!!

Nicole my dweebette soul mate

I thought of what you pmed about your teacher because he has a lovely broken English Spanish accent that occassionally corrects itself to his London surroundings and then goes back to his native land. My ear loved listening. Nicole is your first guitar teacher or have you had a few? I have been a guitar slapper and gone through a few

LOL

It is about time I started all this again.

I am going to post some before and after pieces soon and show how his approach is so different!

Matt

NicDots · Post by **NicDots** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:54 am

I had three guitar teachers (not including my current one, AKA, the only one worth a damn).

I had teacher one who was too stoned to show up 1/2 the time.
Teacher two was just not for me. I told him "I want to learn theory and I want to learn how to read shape notes." He said "Why would you wanna learn that?" Didn't last long.
Teacher three I was able to out jam any day of the week.

I decided that if I wanted to REALLY learn guitar, I'd have to go classical, and I was pretty much right.

What sort of things are you learning with your new teacher, Dweebshire?

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:48 am

NicDots wrote:I had three guitar teachers (not including my current one, AKA, the only one worth a damn).

I had teacher one who was too stoned to show up 1/2 the time.
Teacher two was just not for me. I told him "I want to learn theory and I want to learn how to read shape notes." He said "Why would you wanna learn that?" Didn't last long.
Teacher three I was able to out jam any day of the week.

I decided that if I wanted to REALLY learn guitar, I'd have to go classical, and I was pretty much right.

What sort of things are you learning with your new teacher, Dweebshire?

My God those teachers sound dreadful!!

Very, very subtle things that have made all the difference which may not sound like huge things unless you heard the difference.

For example in the Britten piece I am doing there is a sudden crescendo. Because the piece is meant to be 'agitated' at this moment my crescendo wasn't sudden enough. So he showed me a way I could use a pull off with a reststroke which just made all the difference.

Also on an E major ascending arpeggio my fingers were naturally clumping together before I then did an f minor descending arpeggio.

The piece is so fast at this stage that my left hand was getting a minor tension...enough that it was and hit and miss if it was 100 percent clean.

Carlos showed a way to break the E arpeggio into sections (ie no barre) that eased the tension...hense the whole passage sounded magically clean!!!

There was loads more. Carlos played around with the intro to this piece that I play, to show me the kind of improvisationary mood the piece (in his opinion) shoud be played...and I agree!!! I have liked my version but agree it was too literal as a tango type dance.

I hope that explains it!! I can see myself it was a bit Dweebshire in places

Matt

NicDots · Post by **NicDots** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:00 am

It explains well enough!
I have a hard time imagining you needing pointers when it comes to guitar though.

siro_angel · Post by **siro_angel** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:11 am

I had a tutor who told me I'd NEVER be able to learn guitar so I should hang up my guitar on the wall.

and well... is that true?

Simon

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:34 am

NicDots wrote:It explains well enough!
I have a hard time imagining you needing pointers when it comes to guitar though.

I will take that in the kind spirit is intended. You are too kind

My real thoughts?

I think it is possible to have a lesson off most people and learns something different or revise the way you look at something.

I think the only way to stay fresh and keep the ego at bay is lessons...
Whether they are with a person in front of you, learning new pieces, guitar techniques etc...

My old teacher like a friendly big Buddha would always laugh if I he could read in me that I was taking myself too seriously, and thinking I was getting towards a good standard in something he was teaching me...

I thank him for that!! He made me realise the truth that Good and bad are all relative and pretty much unimportant. Also I learned to laugh at myself!!

I reliased years ago that it was futile trying to be the 'most' at various aspects of music/guitar LOL...
I do think though that we can all see something different in a piece, and finding our own talent is just that, homing in on that special thing that we have and really making it sing out our own way.

I don't mean it to sound arrogant but one thing I am pleased with and proud of is I think my pieces I write and when I tackle someones elses sound like me.

Mind you maybe the big far Buddha is laughing at me there (I will kick hius big fat ass!!!) LMAO

Matt

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:42 pm

I had my second lesson a few days back. What is annoying and unfortunate (not that over and misused word'ironic'

) is that it concerned the thumb.

He showed me something that I think is going to change my interpretations of 2 part writing forever and it sounds so simple!

When Carlos play one part getting the pontacello tone (near the bridge), he manages to at the same time from his bass notes to get a tastonutto tone.

To the ear it sounds like the piece is being played by two guitarists! I had a few days of trying to get the hand position right and now I have to wait until my thumb repair before I can try.

I am loving this!!

Matt

delve · Post by **delve** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:35 pm

Hope your thumb heals well Matt. It sounds like you found a great teacher. As long as i have been playing i only focused on technique mostly in the begining for a few years. Then i spent years trying to develop songs and my own "style". I have been inspired, mostly by this site, to focus again on technique. If i were over there i would love to take a few lessons from you Matt. wayne

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:23 pm

Hi Wayne

I think you are right. I have a feeling with this teacher that he is really going to change me as a player for the better. Despite his huge success' he is so humble and funny. There are so many big heads in the Classical music world too!..well actually the rock Guitar world too I suppose

I just can't wait till the next lessons on the 20th. Also there is stuff when you take lessons that you can pass on directly yourself. I suppose you just are much fresher as a teacher.

I love being a teacher Wayne. I love it (the debating thread side of me) when there are problems and working through them with a pupil. It may be fingering a piece differently or just having a whole lesson about how you can phrase something so differently.

A bit like in English language the word emphasised can make all the diffrence

ie

"I thought YOU took all the money"

"I thought you took ALL the money"

"I THOUGHT you took all the money"

Just little details making huge differences.